An old, new world
by Ban3
Summary: When an OC with an immense imagination and tendency to smooth situations over is whisked to Gensokyo, just how long will he enjoy Gensokyo?
1. Chapter 1

I do not own Touhou Project, all characters excluding Duncan are owned by ZUN and Team Shanghai Alice.

**An old, new world**

**Chapter 1**

Hello, my name is Duncan, why don't I tell you a little about myself. I live (lived, don't worry about it, I'll explain it later.) In the windy city of Port Elizabeth in sunny South Africa. My sister's a singer, my brother a software architect and my mother a shipping clerk. My youngest sister lived in France, my father had left us, sadly, a few years back after being beaten with the cancer stick and though we didn't live together we were and still are a close family. I had in fact just returned home from living overseas and times were good.

I am the oldest out of four siblings, I turned thirty not too long ago and although being a really nice person (Ha, also pretty good looking,) I felt that besides my family I had no real prospects, maybe I just didn't click with the world and society. I was always very open minded to the possibilities of nature and magic, I guess I also believed that vampires, fairies and many other mythological creatures existed though had hidden themselves (Well back then I believed, now I know.) I was pretty disappointed with how society was getting more and more skeptical of anything interesting and often wished for something to happen to make people realise how little they knew, to no avail.

That's when things changed..

It was a dry, sunny afternoon. Typical weather during summer in Port Elizabeth, I had just finished some design work on my notebook and felt like taking a break in my garden. I love gardening! I am a lover of wild plants and trees and still do to this day, but back to the story at hand, I decided to head down to my shady, fern filled special place. I strolled down the path heading to a stately oak and as I wandered under the branches I started feeling a strange crawling feeling. It was as if my skin was trying to move one way while my body stayed put, not the most pleasant of feelings at all. I blinked and when I looked again the scenery had changed.

I was definitely not standing in my garden anymore, instead trees surrounded me in all directions, ancient lichen painted the branches in a mosaic of greys and greens. Ferns sprouted from moss covered roots and ivy crept up the thick, rugged trunks, making the slow trek up to the sun above. This was not a South African forest, the plants growing here more resembled plants growing specifically in Japan than what you would commonly find in a forest from my part of the world. The forest appeared to be comprised of white birch, the trees so ancient their thick trunks seemed to be hewn from rock. large shelf-like fungi protruded at strange angles from the trunks and dripped with moisture.

While I love forests I felt a little uneasy, a forest like this is never a good place to be when alone, especially considering I was not only alone, but pretty much lost. I noted the light had begun dimming. Lost, alone and with the light fading I had a good idea how stories like this seemed to end so clasping my hands together I prayed. Now I must mention that I believe in the Lord and the Lady, with all of my family roots going back to Cornwall England and the gypsies of Europe, to me it was not surprising that I had gravitated towards The Craft. While others had become increasingly skeptical I had embraced the Lord and upon hearing about the Lady had included her too, I was never as flamboyant about it as other practicioners, but I always felt the Lord and Lady, together protected me and I felt grateful that I could invoke Their guidance.

Looking around I noticed something odd, there appeared to be a ripple in the air, as if the air was slightly more solid just behind me. I found this interesting, could I actually see the energy here this clearly? Where ever this was, the energies seemed a lot more abundant than in my hometown, I felt a surge of excitement and began following the rippling air, the twilight had just set in and I was really starting to sweat when I emerged from the trees and found myself on a road. It wasn't really a road so much as a wide, well trodden path. Thanking my Lord and Lady for their help I pressed on, I could see dim lights about five to ten kilometres ahead of me, it must be a village of some sort I felt and as I thought this, my spirits lifted a bit.

It must have been about ten minutes later when a song hit me, when I say hit I mean hit because at that moment the scenery swam around me before fading into an indeterminable blur. Now in South Africa we have a very special mountain, it is called Table Mountain for the flat top and fog which resembles a table cloth, many people go missing if hiking in the fog so when you are unsure of your surroundings it is always better to stand still. I froze in place and waited, something seemed to come closer it appeared to be shades of pink, brown and white and I knew it was the source of the song.

"Hey you over there!" I yelled, the song stopped and my vision sharpened up rapidly. The song! That must have been why I couldn't see, I had read somewhere before that some frequencies can disrupt certain molecules that allowed for sight, maybe this was what had happened. I looked at the being drifting slowly towards me. It was actually a she, her eyes appeared to glow an incandescent red, pink hair flowed from beneath an odd looking winged bonnet to around shoulder length where it had been cropped short. Two feathery ears protruded from amongst her short tresses. A brown, frilly dress completed the look while a pair of interesting wings beat the air. A youkai, youkai, demon, monster, they all mean the same thing for humans, possible death.

The girl favoured me a smile, but I could tell she was up to no good.

"What exactly do you th-ink you are do-ing?" Asked with a halting voice this question did not convey the sense of being in control I had intended. Her smile grew wider.

"Just flying around, singing, oh and hunting~"

Well, I had guessed as much, the way she said that sounded really arrogant, she knew she was in control here. I did not like my chances, but having seen death in the passing of my father I wasn't about to bolt, that would just be begging her predatory instincts to take over. What could I do? Although I had felt, imagined and believed in magic it had never seemed to work back home, I wasn't sure I could rely on it here so I didn't want to risk it, yet. The only way out of this situation appeared to be barefacing my way out. Looking back she had taken to smirking at me.

"Confident aren't you?" I muttered, her smile turned into a wicked grin displaying perfectly white teeth. if she didn't have so much killing intent emanating off her she would have been just my type, I had an idea. I must confess I am a paradox, I am a nice person but I can appreciate using cold calculated stabs at a person through words if I feel they have wronged me, specifically if it makes someone either feel guilty or just upsets them, I'm not proud of this side of me, but for survival situations (Like now being a good example) at times I am. 'She knows she is cute, judging from her singing she obviously likes her own voice and from her bearing and attitude she will not be expecting an emotional attack. On the other hand though trying something like this could get me killed, but either way it seems like the outcome is the same.' These thoughts raced through my mind as I weighed up my options.

I sighed; "You know, you are not as cute as you think you are." The result was instantaneous, she glowered at me and her talons extended menacingly. She obviously did not like her looks being brought into question. "Do you have any friends?" She nodded and a pleased look started working its way onto her face.

"Yes~ Wriggle-san, the queen of insects~"

I nodded closing my eyes in thought; "Oh yes, another youkai right? I thought as much, I guess it would be impossible for someone like you to have friends outside their race." She flinched at that, her eyes dimming until they had taken on a silver hue, 'pretty eyes.' She appeared to be flexing her talons. "I mean it makes sense that you would not have human friends, I wonder if you even have a special person, you probably hunt down any people who might consider it." Her confidence seemed to be fading away, instead of smirking she bit her lip, she had balled up her hands into quivering fists. I felt really bad about what I had said to her, but it was either that or death. Now for the cherry on top; "Then you blind me with a song, but you know, apart from blinding me, I wonder if that is all your song is capable of, there was absolutely no talent or feeling in that song, I would not be surprised if your voice was so bad it blinded me. How disappointing."

That must have done it, her eyes swam and her lips trembled. Then the flood burst forth, she sobbed openly. Her high keening wails bit into my very being, I started creeping away but then the paradox which I am, I stopped and turned back to her. I felt really guilty about what I had said and could not leave her like this. I walked up to her cautiously.

"Umm.. Hello? Hello there." I tried to get her attention, but it seemed that she could not hear me. 'What are you doing?' I reached for her hand and grabbed it gently, leading her to a tree on the edge of the road. 'This is really dangerous, not minutes ago she wanted to eat you.' My inner dialogue was going crazy and I could not blame it, this was not smart, I had insulted her, brought her to tears and now instead of escaping, I was helping her to sit on a large gnarled root and taking a seat next to her. I tried to calm her down.

"Look, I am really sorry about what I said earlier. Please calm down." Her sobs continued unabated. "You really are cute, I should not have lied to you, it was wrong of me." Her sobs subsided a little. "Listen to me, I was wrong, I should not have said what I said, okay?" She hiccupped softly. I took off her bonnet and ruffled her hair before returning it to her head. "Cheer up, okay?" She gave me a demure sideways glance and nodded. "I am sorry I had to do that, but I needed to defuse what was happening back there, why were you trying to hunt me anyway?" She scratched her head in thought; "You looked interesting and I was hungry, sniff, I can't always eat lamprey~"

I passed her a clean tissue from my pants pocket and looked at her puzzled; "Lamprey, that wierd eel with a suction mouth?" She seemed to get defensive: "They only look wierd, if you use the right spices they taste delicious." A smile crept across my face; "You like cooking?" She nodded vigorously; "I have a stall! It's difficult to get customers though, No-one really comes here after dark." This was getting interesting; "Okay so where is here?" She wiped her eyes and looked at me incredulously; "The Forest of Magic of course!"

'So that is why that energy trail seemed so visible, a magical forest?'

I looked at her interested; "So tell me, am I still on Earth?" Now it was her turn to look confused; "Earth? What's Earth?"

'Wow, she doesn't seem too clued up about some facts.'

"Earth, a big round ball of rock, with salty oceans, people, cities, animals, you know, all of that stuff."

She seemed to be trying to solve a puzzle in her head, her face lit up, obviously she had found the answer. "I thought your clothing was funny, you're from the Outside World aren't you?"

"Outside world?"

She looked at me scornfully; "Yes the Outside World silly, the land outside Gensokyo, so near but so far away, the world of humans."

I held my chin, my thumb on my cheek and my finger crossing my lips in thought. 'Hmm.. I was walking under my oak tree, suddenly I am in a magical forest.' I pinched myself and jumped at the pain. 'Not dreaming either, can this mean?' I threw my arms around the adorable youkai and cheered.

"Eeeeeeh? What? What are you doing?" The youkai girl seemed quite flustered. I let go and looked at her cheerfully. "I made it into an alternate reality, I don't know how but I did, I knew that it was possible!" She looked at me amused; "You're strange, I don't understand 'alternate' and 'reality' but I knew that you looked interesting, you were mean to me, but I'm glad you stopped me from eating you." I rubbed my head sheepishly; "Please forgive me for that. Before I forget, I lied, your song was really beautiful, my sister is a singer too and for me to tell you that your song was beautiful means I think that you are as good as her." She looked down and fidgeted.

"You think my singing is as good as your sister's?" I nodded; "We humans love our families and will compare outside people to our brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers, it is a very big honour to be compared positively with a family member."

She stopped fidgeting and looked up at me hopefully; "Okay, I will forgive you," I sighed in relief, only to be interrupted by an admonishing finger; "But only on one condition." I looked at her warily and got a giggle in exchange; "You must take responsibility and be my friend forever!" I grinned warmly and ruffled her hair again; "I was right, you really are cute!" Giving her shoulder a squeeze I asked: "So then my cute new friend, what should I call you?" She glared at me half-heartedly and straightened her hair before standing up and lifting the edges of her dress in a small curtsey; "Lorelei, My name is Lorelei Mystia." That was very Japanese, giving me her surname before her name, I tapped my cheek; "Lorelei huh? There is a legend where I come from about a beautiful siren called Lorelei. She had the most wonderful voice." I decided to leave out the part about her luring human sailors to their deaths along the river Rhine though.

She smiled and looked at me expectantly before I figured it out, "Gatley, Duncan Gatley, but please call me Duncan." She nodded appreciatively and said: "Well, Duncan-san, do you want to eat at my stall?" I blinked before standing, she definitely had lost the killing intent from before, I am usually pretty good at judging a person's character and it seemed now we were friends she would not hurt me. "Oh yes, you like cooking don't you? I do too! What are your favourite spices?"

With that the two of us strolled down the road, discussing spices and food . I had decided that Mystia over here would probably be a lot more interesting than the village behind us. It was surprising, it was the first time I felt completely at ease speaking with such a cute person, no thoughts speeding through my head about whether she was judging my behaviour as I had in the outside world, I felt at peace, with someone not even human.

"Fu, fu, fu. How intriguing~ This one survived and even swayed the Night Sparrow. I'll be keeping an eye on you 'yawn' but not tonight, tonight I need my beauty sleep."

* * *

><p>This is a kind of insert of myself with a changed name, but with a difference. Unlike other characters I do not plan on this ending in Gensokyo or in the Outside World or in any of the current bordering worlds.<p>

In real life I am just like this character, kind, caring, highly imaginative and usually considered quite wise. I am often told that I am good looking and look younger than my age. However though I am kind, I often appreciate it when characters use cold emotional jabs when they have been wronged and I am not afraid to use this when I have been wronged either I have a slightly vindictive streak. I consider this a flaw of mine. I am however a smoother, I try to make everyone feel better even if they have just treated me badly and usually it works to my favour. People always like how interesting I am.

Be prepared for a character who is able to grasp flying quickly, etc, in real life I often use lucid dreams to practise flying and the creation of energy bolts. As I believe in magic I often use hand gestures and such for protection, peace, etc, thus this will carry over to Duncan.

I am also a person who does not like the skepticism that is growing in this world I find it repulsive and disgusting. I have a lot of faith that all gods, goddesses, vampires, etc.. do or did exist and perhaps went into hiding.

I wanted to place someone in Gensokyo for a bit who comes from South Africa, a country hardly ever seeing characters being whisked to Gensokyo even though it is rich in culture, superstitious beliefs, etc.. My family roots literally contain druidic, white witch and gypsy blood and my grandparents have all had some sort of psychic tendency, be it seeing spirits, being able to work certain magic works, etc. We have youkai possibly still active in this country, not too long ago a man almost got drowned while on a picnic with his family when he followed a weeping voice to a river in the park they were at. He only survived because he noticed its red eyes, this man did not drink or do drugs, it was in the newspaper about three years ago in 2008.

Well this is chapter one, Duncan has arrived in Gensokyo and although having a rocky start has befriended Mystia. This story takes place after any of the incidents in the actual games (I have never played them.) As Gensokyo in the real world would exist between Nagano and Yamanashi Prefectures in Japan the predominant tree type should be White Birch and after looking at this picture of an ancient white birch

./-HoRV-_8Ou_U/ThId9HtUFcI/AAAAAAAAHm4/5JV5nyJwP9Q/s1600/Birch%2Bw%2Bganadium%

I liked the idea of the Forest of Magic looking more like this. Lichen loves pure air and as Gensokyo would have crystal clear air I presume lichen would be abundant. Look out for somewhat obvious nods towards some of the other stories on this forum or on others that I have read.


	2. Chapter 2

I do not own Touhou Project, all characters excluding Duncan are owned by ZUN and Team Shanghai Alice.

**An old, new world**

**Chapter 2**

By the time we had finished our discussion about spices and cooking I had realised that our definitions of spices were very different. Whereas I preferred finding interesting blends of raw spices to achieve my ends, Mystia seemed to use premixed barbecue sauces which had mysteriously slipped through to this world. Personally I felt this was cheating but I was not going to rain on her parade. Something else had come to my attention too, the forest appeared to be teeming with energy. Radiant orbs of light drifted and danced below the dark boughs of the trees. I noticed some curious faces peering out at us from within a small leafy bush, they appeared to be whispering amongst themselves. Their long blond hair had been swept back into ponytails which cascaded down their backs between a pair of translucent wings. 'Fairies.'

I looked at them and grinned only to marvel at the speed at which they disappeared back into the bush. I knew they were still about as their titters seemed to follow us. Now I was curious.

"Mystia, Is this forest of magic always this.. busy?" The cute youkai who had been humming to herself softly, looked back at me with a laugh.

"Of course silly, that's why its the Forest of Magic."

Well she did have a point there, but then again, when I was looking for the road before I hadn't noticed anything. Apart from the energy trail it had seemed like a normal forest.

I scrunched my face in puzzlement; "Well earlier it was very quiet, you going to tell me I was just incredibly unobservant?"

She gave me a slightly serious look; "You know Duncan-san, you must have had the luck of an oni. You walked through behind the back of every fairy and youkai in the area, you could have been hunted at any time."

'Wow, well that was fortunate wasn't it?'

"Not really fortunate, but blessed-" An authoritative male voice intoned behind me. I spun around only to be met with a cool breeze, an empty road and well.. An empty road. The heavens appeared shot through with millions of stars, the milky way's rim clearly visible in the inky indigo blue night sky. I turned to Mystia agape; "Did you hear that?" She regarded me with a nervous glance and nodded.

"Who - Who's there?" The girl looked around frantically.

"Dearest, please relax and let them be~" Another one, this one seemingly feminine, her voice sounding like water tinkling in a clear mountain stream appeared to be chiding the original disembodied voice.

And we were alone again. I looked over at my companion who seemed to be cringing.

"Well, that was weird. Are there any spirits around here?" She looked back again a finger tapping her upper lip.

"Not that I can think of, maybe at Hakugyokurou~" I looked back curiously.

"Hakugyokurou? What's that?" She shot me a look of exasperation and sighed;

"I forgot, you're from outside. Hakugyokurou is the White Jade Tower of the Netherworld. I have some friends living near there- and some people I want to forget" A visible shiver ran up her entire body, she looked a little sick.

I balked at the idea, alive, in the netherworld? That's quite a contradiction. I was about to point out how someone can't really be alive in a place for dead beings (I probably would have received a sound mocking for that, now that I think about it) When I heard a soft yet shrill noise up ahead. Mystia beamed in excitement.

The noise started off soft in the distance, a sound like hot steam, or an energy weapon charging as in all of those old cartoons. It seemed to be coming closer, more and more voices seemed to join the cacophony, chirruping, humming and trilling in a riot of sound. The closer the sound got the clearer I could hear it. It sounded like cicadas, I also noted crickets and many other types of beetles and insects which appeared to be strumming their natural instruments for all their worth. Eventually the sound surrounded us before coalescing and swelling to form a fanfare, a symphony fit to herald royalty. I looked at Mystia who seemed to understand exactly what was going on.

"She's showing off again~" She giggled to herself. At about that time "she" melted out of the trees, what a sight.

This person seemed very in control of herself, she appeared regal and I really wouldn't have been surprised if she was nobility (which I discovered about two minutes later was the case.) She strode toward us, shoulders back, body straight and her head raised. 'What perfect posture.' Flaxen, teal hair framed a boyish yet feminine face in a stylistic bob. Two insect-like antennae poked up from just above her fringe Her eyes like brilliant emeralds appeared to glow faintly in the starry night. She stood before us resplendent in a bejeweled gown which though simple in cut appeared incredibly elegant. The gown itself was quite spectacular, various hues of green and violet formed a sumptuous pattern which criss-crossed the entire outfit. I stood in awe.

The queenly girl brushed me off, instead walking up to Mystia and placing a delicate hand on her shoulder.

"Mystia." She smiled down at the slightly shorter youkai in a friendly manner.

"Wriggle!" Mystia embraced the teal-head and gave her a big hug. She then gestured to me gushing; "This is Duncan-san! He's strange and interesting!" Wriggle gave me a look which could cut diamonds before adding ominously "Yes, I heard."

I smiled at her awkwardly under that icy gaze and decided to put my best foot forward;

"Hi there Wriggle-san. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Her chin began rising as she looked down her nose at me in contempt, her arms crossed in front of her chest. If her previous look could have cut diamonds this one could have cut whole icebergs.

"You, a lowly human dare address Wriggle Nightbug, Holy Queen of the Night and successor of Lady Nisus by name? You will address me as 'Queen Wriggle' human!"

'Wow, that was harsh.'

"O- Okay Queen Wriggle, whatever you say." I felt discretion may be the better part of valour in this situation and hastily addressed the youkai correctly. Mystia looked at her friend askance, but appeared to set what had just happened aside. 'Queen Wriggle' looked at her friend before returning her hand to the shorter girl's shoulder.

"Let's get to the stall now, this human can join us this once."

'What's biting her?' I chuckled at the double meaning in my words, but shrugged in dejection before trudging after the two. The next few minutes crawled by, it appeared 'Queen Wriggle' had taken to alternating between looking at her friend and throwing accusatory glances in my general direction. I sighed and kept my eyes facing forward.

"You'll need to watch her-" The authoritative male voice had returned it seemed.

"Dearest be still, this is becoming quite interesting~" And the female voice had returned as well. How could a voice sound like a stream? I wondered about this for a bit before noticing that 'Queen Wriggle' and Mystia had stopped. They appeared to be staring off into the forest.

"Did you see that Mystia?" The youkai pointed an elongate finger in the direction of the trees. The shorter youkai seemed to be hanging on her every word and peering out in the direction of the finger.

"What is it Wriggle?" The youkai looked down at her again.

"I believe it was a large, airborne lamprey!"

'Lamprey don't live on land or in the air.' My inner dialogue muttered scornfully.

"If you hurry you just might get it" She appeared to be conning Mystia and I had a very, very good idea why. She wanted me alone. 'Not good.' I had a sinking feeling that I was in for it whether I liked it or not. The shorter youkai shot off into the dense forest.

"Come back here lamprey-san!" Her voice faded into the dewy forest air, 'Queen Wriggle' seemed to bend over backwards and smirked at me. I had not noticed yet that she had a luminescence about her, like a glow-worm an almost turquoise green light seemed to shine on her from apparently no definite direction. She sidled up to me and placed an arm on my shoulder as if wishing to confide with me.

"That Mystia can be gullible sometimes." She shook her head momentarily before looking back at me. The luminescence appeared to shift so that her face took on a more shadowed, dangerous quality. Her eyes glowed fiercely.

"She is however my friend and no-one hurts my friend."

I shifted on my feet nervously, this is something that nightmares are made of. A dark forest, a shadowey being with glowing eyes and possible murder on its mind. I gulped noisily.

"But-"

"But nothing!" She cut me off before continuing; "You, you human! You dared to insult her voice, her friendship, you made her cry! I could have all the insects in this forest on you in an instant!"

'In that case I am curious as to why you haven't yet.' I noted inwardly. She hadn't finished yet, it appeared she still wanted to berate me some more, I decided to try getting a word in edge-ways.

"If I hadn't-"

'Queen Wriggle really doesn't give a person a chance does she?'

She had interrupted me again only to quote my words from my earlier conversation with Mystia.

"I needed to defuse what was happening.." She glared at me furiously before continuing; "I heard everything, I saw everything! My insects are everywhere! You didn't have to defuse anything, you could have politely died like Outsiders are supposed to!"

'She still hasn't killed me yet.' I calmed a little at the thought and realised 'Queen Wriggle' was muttering to herself angrily.

'Miserable human, why won't she just? Rhubarb, rhubarb, rhubarb..' She continued muttering before seemingly pulling herself back together. She threw a scathing glare in my direction.

"I can't kill you though." She sighed in frustration; "Mystia seems to want to be friends with you. I will just have to try to make her see reason."

I turned, faced the insect girl and bowed as deeply as I could.

"I am truly sorry about what I said to her Wriggle-sa-"

"That's Queen Wriggle!" She cut in, her hands on her hips, her eyes flashing.

"Queen Wriggle, I will never do that again."

'Well at least not to her.'

The self-proclaimed queen of the night, nodded, her eyes closed in thought. She leaned in close and whispered.

"Good, because if you dare do that again then friend or no friend-" Mystia chose that moment to burst out of some bushes, her hair looked disheveled and a twig hung from her silky fringe. Wriggle was gone like a cool breeze, I looked around for a crow cawing in the wind but noticed that Wriggle was back at Mystia's side and that there had never been any wind to begin with.

"Mystia, I suppose you didn't find it did you?" She plucked the twig out of the youkai's hair and gave said hair an affectionate ruffle. The shorter youkai glared at her before putting her bonnet back on her head.

"Wriggle, don't do that it tickles."

The queen of the night simply smirked before giving me a meaningful look, I could read it like a book. 'Don't hurt her again, clear?' I nodded vigorously, with a nod she turned on her heel before setting off again with Mystia. 'Where is this stall?' It really seemed to be taking forever to get to this stall that Mystia had spoken about. While I watched the the two girls' swaying hair it appeared that Wriggle had decided to take up the matter of Mystia and my blossoming friendship and was in the process of trying to find out why Mystia had in fact chosen to be friends.

This was a mystery I was curious about myself so hanging back I eavesdropped (a flaw of mine, some people say I have selective hearing. I hear what I am not supposed to hear. Personally I listen to what is interesting.) It seemed to be going like a ping pong game as I followed the earnest conversation taking place.

"I don't understand Mystia. Why do you want to befriend him?" The insect girl placed a disdainful emphasis on "him" and gestured towards me with a delicate hand. Her friend tilted her head in thought before replying.

"He is strange, but interesting and he likes cooking. He says I have a beautiful voice." The look on Wriggle's face changed from puzzlement to anger with that remark.

"But Mystia, he is a human. A human. You two are too different." She gesticulated wildly, not very queenly behaviour if you ask me. My ear twitched eagerly.

"Wriggle, he is male. M-A-L-E and he agreed to be friends with me. how many males are there around here that will accept a youkai like me? The other male youkai look down on me, I'm just the singing night sparrow to them!" It appeared the conversation had become a slight argument by this point. Apparently many of the other youkai did not appreciate the "Night Sparrow" I was curious about the male thing but on the plus side at least now I knew exactly what she was.

"Nisus sake Mystia! He insulted you! He insulted you and he is human! I don't understand you at all!" The insect queen seemed to be in a state between apoplexy and disbelief. I chuckled quietly.

"Wriggle, he had no weapons. I did not expect his attack, I was careless." She sighed before continuing, her rapid pace forcing Wriggle to keep her mouth shut. "He beat me with words in three attacks. It was like a three card duel without cards and I lost. I have accepted it and he said sorry, would Cirno's 'Red-white' say sorry?" She puffed up her cheeks and put on a stubborn face; "I won't speak about Duncan-san anymore."

'So that's it.' Although I had no idea about the "cards" they were speaking about, I did understand her sentiment. Sometimes a battle between two apparent enemies could lead to friendship. If she had considered my words as actual attacks, her breakdown as her loss and was prepared to put it behind her and make friends.. I looked at her in a new light. She was a really big person.

Taking a step closer I put a hand on the bird youkai's free shoulder and leaned close. Wriggle had lapsed into a grudging silence and after what I had heard I felt this was a good opportunity to comment.

"Mystia-san, you are an even more impressive person than I thought." Slowly, she tilted her head to look at me. I gave her a genuine look of admiration before continuing; "I wondered why you wanted to be friends with me after everything I said, but to accept it as a loss and to move on and put it behind you." I paused for dramatic effect; "I am honoured to accept you as a friend. Those other youkai that don't appreciate you are fools!" It was quite amusing watching her face, curiosity changed to disbelief before a soft pink blush spread across her cheeks. She smiled radiantly. 'Wow.'

That soft tinkling voice seemed to be at my ear the moment I leaned back. "Oh well done, that was touching. Don't you agree dearest?"

The imperious voice had returned as well, though apparently struggling to comment.

"Yes, well, that is, well-"

The feminine voice giggled gleefully and a soft, invisible hand ruffled my hair.

"We're here!"

We had arrived at a small clearing next to the road. A few sparse bushes dotted the otherwise empty glade. A large shape dominated the area a few paces from the road. The youkai disappeared into the darkness and the shape unfurled with a loud flap. I heard something clicking a few times before a soft glow lit up the immediate area. Mystia appeared with two reasonably sized paper lanterns which she hung from the corners of a large wooden stand.

I had seen similar stands in Taiwan where I had lived for a couple of years. Those stands though had consisted of either a small lorry with the pan at the back converted into a grill. This one however had been crafted from wood and metal. The outside looked simple, made of birch wood which had been cut into planks and glued with a strange resin. The inside had a metal grill and what appeared to be a shallow metal basin for a fire.

There appeared to be a small cave just behind the stand. With the help of the additional lighting I could make out the outline of a rocky, birch covered outcropping. Altogether this place seemed quite pleasant. Mystia appeared next to me with a proud look on her face.

"What do you think Duncan-san?"

I turned to her and grinned;

"Not bad, not bad at all. I think it looks amazing." She grinned back at me before bursting into song. In cue with her singing my vision once again faded into a murky blur. I felt a delicate hand slip into mine as she guided me to a seat singing;

"Now Duncan-san~ I see the night has made you blind, but don't worry about that~ My lamprey is so good that it can cure any blindness~"

I heard Wriggle chuckle at that and took my seat.

"Hmmm.. How interesting. Who are these two hiding in the shadows? Fu fu fu, it seems I must- Draw them out."

* * *

><p>Wow! I really enjoyed writing that. The Wriggle used in this story is based around the more powered up Wriggle Nightbug from GuyYouMetOnline's "Orphan"<p>

I tried to make this chapter center around introducing Wriggle Nightbug who is pretty ticked off at Duncan for causing her best friend such anguish and also to give a reason as to why Mystia chose to befriend Duncan so quickly (Didn't anyone else find it odd?)

I took the reviews onboard and attempted to make my sentences shorter (long sentences have always been a problem of mine)

I wasnt actually sure how Mystia lights her lanterns thus I went with flint or stones this time.

Feel free to mention the references in this chapter (Besides Wriggle)

And who exactly are the two voices? (Well that is quite obvious) To find out this and more, stay tuned next time for An old, new World.


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